1. Field of the Invention
The disclosed process produces an unfrozen, ready-to-bake bagel that is shelf-stable and remains xe2x80x9cfreshxe2x80x9d for up to ten (10) days prior to baking and up to 48 hours subsequent to baking.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Bread products are an important food for proper nutrition and a dietary staple throughout the world. The process of making bread products is, however, lengthy. The preparation of bread or pastry, in which yeast is used as a proofing agent, requires multiple steps. First, the dough ingredients are mixed and kneaded. Next, the dough is pre-proofed, or bulk fermented, and pre-shaping takes place. The product then undergoes the intermediate proofing step and the definitive shaping takes place. Finally, the final proofing and, when the product is fully raised, the dough is baked. This process can take as long as six to eight hours, which requires the process to he completed during the night for bread products being sold in the early morning.
One of the more popular bread products is the bagel with consumer demand having increased dramatically over the past few years. Bagels, however, are not made like standard bread products and require a skill and equipment not readily available to most bakeries. This scarcity of skill and equipment further complicates meeting the consumer demand. In order to provide supermarkets and bakeries With fresh bagels, various processes have been developed to meet consumer needs.
The most popular of the processes has been to freeze the new dough, or partially cooked bagel. This freezing process is done immediately after par cooking and the product remains frozen until consumer defrosting. This, however, has created problems of consistency, temperature variations in distribution and storage, adversely altering the quality. Once reheated, these frozen bagel harden within several hours.
Current bagel technology includes Petrofsky""s U.S. Pat. No. 4 657,769. This bagel process makes an unbaked bagel that is passed through boiling water to establish the traditional bagel crust without thoroughly cooking the dough. The bagel is then frozen in its semi-raw dough form, without completion of the yeast activity. Problems associated with this process include:
1) at the bakery site, the frozen bagels need to be thawed and proofed prior to being baked in a commercial oven;
2) because the yeast needs to be revived, inconsistencies occur during the baking cycle in that the holes within the dough close up when yeast causes the bagels to rise too much and when the bagels do not rise enough the bagels are tough;
3) the baked bagels lose freshness after only 4 to 6 hours;
4) again, because the yeast activity is not completed prior to freezing, low temperatures must be maintained during distribution and storage to ensure that the yeast does not awaken from dormancy at these stages in the life of the unbaked product; and
5) the time and labor required to bring the frozen, unbaked bagel product to the consumer is extensive.
A second bagel technology is the par-baked product, such as Arnie""s Bagelicous (a Quaker Company) and others. These companies produce a partially baked bagel that is made in the traditional fashion with either steam or boiling used as the method to establish the traditional bagel crust. The yeast activity is completed during a shortened baking cycle that continues only for the length of time necessary to complete the activity of the yeast, and is stopped before the crust completely browns. This product is then frozen, packaged, and readied for distribution and storage. At the bake-off site, the product is baked again in a very hot oven and served to the consumer. This procedure results in the loss of a great deal of moisture. Drying occurs in the first baking cycle again in the freezing cycle, and then again during the second baking cycle. The resulting product is a very dry, thick-crusted bagel with an even shorter baked shelf-life than the Petrofsky""s method.
Another existing bagel method is the manufacture bake, and freeze process, commonly referred to as bake and serve product. This process yields a fully baked, frozen bagel, made in the traditional fashion by either steam or boiling to establish the crust. The product is sometimes dried then baked with the yeast activity completed during a full baking cycle. The product is then frozen and shipped. Problems in this process include:
1) the texture of the product becomes rubbery and the crust becomes soggy once thawed;
2) unfrozen packaged baked bagels go through a crust softening state from the plastic packaging. The disclosed process solves the problems that exist in the bagel manufacturing industry by producing a ready-to-bake bagel that is shelf-stable even though it is unbaked and unfrozen.
A method of preparing bread products, such as bagels, is disclosed that dramatically increases shelf-stability for distribution. The ingredients are mixed to form a dough that is then given a first floor time in the range of about 10-20 minutes. The dough is then formed into bagels and a second floor time of about 15 to 40 minutes is provided. The second floor time must be sufficient to complete all yeast activity Within the dough. During the second floor time the dough can be placed in a proof box, at temperature in the range of about 85xc2x0 to about 100xc2x0 and a relative humidity of 30-50%.
The bagel dough is sealed by exposing both sides to boiling water between 180xc2x0 F.-212xc2x0 F., and then fully cooking the bagel within the water. To fully cook a bagel takes a minimum of about 1xc2xd minutes to maximum of 2xc2xd minutes per one (1) ounce of bagel dough. A typical bagel weighs between 3xc2xd and 4xc2xd ounces, resulting in a cooking time of 6 to 11xc2xd minutes, xc2x10.15 minutes. This step yields a product where the yeast activity is completed during the boiling cycle, creating an unbaked bagel that is shelf-stable. The cooking time of the bagel must be carefully monitored to avoid under cooking while ensuring a fully cooked product.
Once the bagels are boiled, they are dried and packaged for distribution. Prior to consumption, the bagels are browned in a hot oven. Freezing gives the bagels a shelf life of up to about 9 months, air tight packaging a shelf life of up to about 10 days and gas flush packaging has a shelf life of about 45 days. Once the bagels are baked, they remain fresh for up to 48 hours.